Variety of views on optional vitamin fortification of food (Olive oil in Italy in this case) – April 2022

---

Consumers’ Attitudes and Purchase Intention for a Vitamin-Enriched Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Nutrients 2022, 14(8), 1658; https://doi.org/10.3390/nu14081658
by Manal Hamam 1,Giuseppe Di Vita 2ORCID,Raffaele Zanchini 2,Daniela Spina 1,*,Maria Raimondo 3,Manuela Pilato 4 andMario D’Amico 1ORCID

Abstract

This study aims to examine Italian consumer preferences for extra virgin olive oil (EVOO) enriched with vitamins and to analyze the key drivers that affect consumer choices for this product. Specifically, we assessed consumers’ intention to purchase the enriched product compared to the conventional one. The methodology adopted inferential and multivariate statistical techniques:

• (1) exploratory factor analysis (EFA),
• (2) ordinary least squares regression (OLS) and
• (3) non-hierarchical clustering.

This study appears to be the first research project related to exploring consumers’ interest in an extra virgin olive oil enhanced with vitamins, thereby providing preliminary indications. The main results represent a significant starting point for the development of new marketing strategies for the food industry.

Tables

 Download the PDF from VitaminDWiki

Discussion

Extra virgin olive oil is a healthy, traditional food product [54,55] that is closely linked to the gastronomic heritage of the Mediterranean countries and is characterized by minimal processing. Thousands of people recognize EVOO and consume it just the way it is. Therefore, the findings of our study highlight something quite new: consumer willingness to pay more for vitamin-enriched extra virgin olive oil. This result is more than interesting considering that the consumers in our sample live in a country, Italy, where olive oil is part and parcel of the gastronomic tradition. Although food naturalness is very important for consumers [56,57], the word "vitamin" sounds familiar to them and it is one they connect to health benefits.

Our research has specifically analyzed the features that steer consumers towards a vitamin-enriched oil (factor analysis), the factors that affect consumer's willingness to pay an additional price premium for it (OLS regression), and the main socio-demographic characteristics associated with an interest in functional and vitamin-enriched olive oil (cluster analysis). Since most products that integrate innovations fail to succeed in the market [58], research suggests taking the consumers' point of view into account to stop new products failing and the subsequent waste of resources [59]. This represents the first investigative step in understanding how consumers will react to a vitaminized olive oil

The exploratory factor analysis has shown what drives consumers towards vitamin-enriched olive oil. The perception linked to healthiness, digestibility, nutritional properties and culinary traditions is crucial in the decision to consume extra virgin olive oil, as highlighted by other studies [6,60,61]. For example, Delgado and Gurnard [62] reported that 74% of a US sample indicated health benefits as the main motivation for consuming extra virgin olive oil. Persuric and Damijanic [63] confirmed that the intention to consume olive oil was deeply equated with health benefits. Our results, in fact, show that most consumers are aware of the positive associations between health and olive oil consumption, especially woman who prioritize healthy eating.

Moreover, it is interesting to note the role that the organoleptic qualities play, specifically, bitter and spicy. As the results show, bitterness and spiciness, which represent those attributes that determine the quality of an extra virgin olive oil [64], have a positive influence on consumer interest in a vitamin-enriched extra virgin olive oil. This outcome is quite new in the scientific literature. Generally, consumers do not tend to favor bitterness in food [65]. Yet, when speaking about extra virgin olive oil, bitterness is fundamental because it signifies healthiness, being closely linked to antioxidant content, which helps protect human cells from free radicals [66-68]. Although sufficient evidence exists to verify that extra virgin olive oils with a pungent flavor have a higher polyphenol content (hydroxytyrosol, oleuropein and tyrosol), that is, healthier properties [69,70], most consumers do not seem to prefer bitter-tasting food products [71-73].

With regard to the sample examined in our study, based on the OLS regression results, we can state that the extra price percentage that customers are willing to pay for a vitaminized extra virgin olive oil is influenced by its role in disease prevention, confirming that health concerns are always an important purchasing incentive, as well as extrinsic factors that are confirmed as decisive variables in marketing strategies [73] and purchasing behavior. The latter is positively correlated with the willingness to pay an additional price premium.

Our study also examined the attributes affecting olive oil consumer preferences. In our model, brand, price, label indication, olive provenance, quality certification and traceability emerged as the most significant extrinsic characteristics. All the outcomes are widely confirmed by previous literature, for example, brand has a significant impact on the perceived quality of a product [74], and as a result, it positively influences the willingness to buy [26]. It plays a crucial role, especially in the marketing of large-scale distribution of extra virgin olive oil [75]. Price is a significant factor in purchasing decisions and is among the extrinsic attributes that have the greatest impact on willingness to buy [76]. Previous studies show that the consumer considers price an important quality index [77]. Ballco et al. [78] examined the willingness to pay for extra virgin olive oil, finding that price is the most influential extrinsic attribute in the purchase decision [79-81] followed by the origin and the Protected Designation Origin (PDO) certification [82,83]. Among the extrinsic attributes, it is worth noting the role that food labels play, particularly nutritional ones, in directing consumers towards healthy food choices [84-86]. Our findings confirm that food acceptance is influenced by the information on the label about the origin of the product, quality, composition and the production process [72], so, the food label influences the perception of the taste and quality of a product, and hence the intention to purchase it. The growing interest in functional foods has led several authors to pay attention to labels with nutritional claims to evaluate whether they might help consumers identify functional foods in a better way [84,85]. In fact, research carried out by Roselli et al. [87] has shown that the indications relating to the polyphenol content of olive oil help to emphasize the beneficial qualities of extra virgin olive oils. However, although it has been proven that information regarding the nutritional content of foods strongly influences consumer choices [88], this nutritional information is frequently misunderstood by consumers due to a lack of objective knowledge [85,89,90].

The results of our study also evidenced how the traceability of extra virgin olive oil plays an essential role in the purchase decision. Indeed, as previous studies have shown [91,92], food safety provides a justification for the growing willingness to pay for food traceability. However, even though traditional communication channels are vital for transmitting information, consumers today also seek rational support for their purchasing decisions [93], which is why a better traceability system can be considered an interesting response to consumer needs [94].
Furthermore, several studies reflect the growing desire among consumers to be involved in food production, quality and traceability [95,96]. Information and knowledge create awareness, which in turn, can increase the willingness of consumers to pay for local extra virgin olive oil [97-99].

The high frequency of extra virgin olive oil purchasing is another factor that influences the intention to buy a vitamin-enriched extra virgin olive oil. Those consumers who associate olive oil with health are likely to buy more of this product.

Finally, as shown in the cluster analysis, we identified four classes of consumers, with different levels of interest in vitaminized olive oil or even disinterest. The results of our research show that high consumer interest in the intrinsic and extrinsic characteristics is mainly found in the quality seekers cluster, predominantly made up of women, Generation X individuals, and the elderly, who showed an interest in vitamin-enriched olive oil. We noticed that female gender and high education are the variables associated with consumer interest in the functional properties of olive oil as in the case of healthy consumers, thus confirming that consumers' perception towards vitamin-enriched food is positively correlated with high education [100,101].
On the other side, we discovered two classes of consumers partially or not interested at all. In fact, occasional consumers are less likely to buy a functional extra virgin olive oil, while skeptical consumers attach less importance to functional properties and quality attributes. This last result can be reasonably explained by the strong influence of tradition on eating habits for a large number of Italian consumers, who prefer olive oil as it is, without any additive, functional components or flavor enhancers.

Concluding Remarks

This study evaluated consumers' attitudes and willingness to pay an additional premium price for vitamin-enriched olive oil by using both a multivariate statistics and econometric approach. The descriptive outcome indicated that more than 60% of respondents showed an interest in paying extra for a vitaminized olive oil. However, a different additional price threshold was detected, which suggests that olive oil can be further differentiated in order to meet the demands of consumers interested in the health properties of foods. Regarding the first research question, it was addressed by initially obtaining the factorial dimensions to be used in an OLS regression in combination with socio-demographic data.
The analysis showed the factors that drive consumers toward vitamin-enriched olive oil; specifically, age among the socio-demographics characteristics, belief related to disease prevention and extrinsic factors, and purchasing behavior among the factorial dimensions.
The second research question was addressed by using the k-mean cluster multivariate approach where the principal components (PCs) in combination with socio-demographic characteristics were associated to the interest in functional vitaminized olive oil. We found that female gender and high levels of education were the variables associated with consumers' interest in the functional properties of olive oil.

---

Agreed: Fortified food should be optional, not forced - opinion VitaminDWiki

Manditory fortification must be kept tiny so as to not bother the 1 in 10,000 that have a problem with it
Optional fortification allows much larger amounts of the vitamin in the food.

• This assume that people with problems with the food will notice it and avoid it.
  • Examples: intolerance to milk, peanuts, gluten,

---

VitaminDWiki - Fortification with Vitamin D

131 items in Fortification category

Fortification works, even if food is cooked, but govts rarely fortifiy with enough
Govts, food producers, and families can fortify:
   milk,   yogurt,   beer,   bread,  cereals,  cooking oil,  soups,  jams,   jellys,   honey,   snack bars, etc.
Some interesting fortification articles

• After years of adding vitamin D, Finland now has 38 ng levels - March 2022
• Fortification with Vitamin D works – 16 studies of Danish experience – July 2021
• Vitamin D fortification of beverages – Review March 2022
• Bread fortified with Vitamin D - many studies 13+ studiess
• International Conference of Vitamin D Fortification of Food (India) – Sept 2018
• 2400 IU of vitamin D needed to get most Northern adults above 20 ng – June 2020
  • Most Fortification studies do not give enough to make a difference
• Vitamin D home fortification- don't wait 100 years for your govt

---

VitaminDWiki - Change of Vitamin D Fortification in Denmark

• 60 percent more life births after infertility diagnosis if Vitamin D fortification (Denmark) - Nov 2019
• Vitamin D food fortification during pregnancy reduced gestational diabetes in daughters by 13 percent – Nov 2018
• Vitamin D added to margarine reduced inflammatory bowel disease by 13 percent 30 years later – Nov 2019
• Preeclampsia of offspring cut in half if mother who smoked had vitamin D fortified margarine – Dec 2017
• Danish study of childhood diseases vs vitamin D fortification – May 2013
• 9 studies by Denmak D-Tech group (fortifiy Margarine with Vitamin D) online as of Nov 2019

---

VitaminDWiki - Bread Fortification

VitaminDWiki Fortification pages with BREAD in title

This list is automatically updated